


a friend of all (is a friend of none)

by gnarleyquinn



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/F, High School AU, Hurt/Comfort, Tom Is A Dick, if that bugs you, the word slut is mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-04-17 16:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14193327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gnarleyquinn/pseuds/gnarleyquinn
Summary: “I’m sorry,” Beca pipes up, “That he said that to you.”“It’s okay,” Chloe smiles sadly, “I’m used to it.”orchloe deserves better and beca is willing to punch a man for her





	a friend of all (is a friend of none)

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by [this](https://sapphichollstein.tumblr.com/post/162792830051/in-seventh-grade-i-liked-a-girl-she-had-blonde) post on tumblr

Beca’s head jerks up when a hand hits her back.

“You know there’s never been naptime in high school, right Beca?” Jesse whispers into her ear as he leans forward in the desk behind her. He waits for her head to groggily turn around, an interruption induced scowl and droopy yet burning eyes meeting his gaze. “Though, you might know that if you ever payed attention in _history_ class.” The bell rings before he speaks again, and there’s a loudness to voice now that he doesn’t have to worry about the tyranny of a red-faced history teacher.

“You ready for dress rehearsals today?” He asks as they walk out of the classroom and towards the cafeteria, the hunger worked up from reading about the war of 1812 taking over their minds.

Beca rolls her eyes.

“You mean am I ready to be spotlight number _two_ for six hours after school today?” She’d given up the grudge she’d been holding about being spotlight ever since tech crew positions were announced, but the fact that out of everyone in the universe, _Luke_ had been given Sound Board Operator instead of Beca, she was still having a little trouble not being upset about it.

“C’mon, Becs, it’s not that bad-” Jesse catches the cafeteria door as someone lets it swing shut in front of them. Beca storms through, not waiting for the rest of his sentence before she responds.

“Yeah, says the _stage manager._ ” Jesse trails behind her as if he’s struggling to keep up. Not that her short legs can move much faster than his. They make their way to the table they’ve claimed in the back corner of the room and sit down, Jesse pulling out a brown bagged lunch and Beca pulling out her laptop.

“At least you’re spotlight for Chloe,” he says, handing a sandwich to Beca, “You get to keep your eye on your favorite girl the entire show.”

She throws the balled up tin-foil from the sandwich at his face and looks around, making sure no one overhears the conversation taking place.

“First of all, she’s not _my girl_ , second, don’t make me sound like a creep, I just think she’s pretty.” She says this as a matter of fact, and Jesse can only scoff in response.

“She’s just pretty,” He says in a mocking voice, “Do you tell that to your diary at night too?”

Beca glares at him. They sit in silence for a while before Beca speaks up again.

“I’ve written about you in my diary.” Jesse’s eyes widen a little bit and leans closer to Beca.

“What did you write?”

“Your name.”

Jesse rolls his eyes.

“That’s it?” Beca smiles sweetly.  

“My diary is a death note.”

Jesse frowns and leans back into his seat, taking a sulking bite of his sandwich.

“Now that’s just rude.”

———

It’s _cold._  That’s all that’s running through Beca’s mind as cool air blasts out of the vent that happens to be directly above her spotlight. She rolls her eyes and curses to herself, silently counting down the seconds to the end of the scene.

They’re about half-way into rehearsal, Chloe’s big scene before intermission coming up in a matter of lines. Beca isn’t a huge fan of the play.

(It’s some stupid love story an alumni wrote that’s supposed to be this profound metaphor about life or whatever, but it plays out like a crappy parody version of _Valentine’s Day._ )

Even so, she loves this scene. Chloe’s character has a huge monologue where she finally comes to the realization that the boy she’s in love with has been her best friend the entire time, and she has to break it off with the jerk she’d been seeing for most of the show (which is a tired cliche, really), and while the script itself doesn’t do much for the story, Chloe really brings it to life. She hates to admit when Jesse is right, but Beca thinks she would’ve dropped out of the play by now if it weren’t for her having basically the best view in the house every performance.

She shivers again, and stifles a yawn as she sends a quick text to Jesse, asking him to bring her his sweatshirt during break.

She watches as Chloe moves across the stage, her character nervously pacing in the makeshift kitchen. Just as the monologue begins, Beca’s light rig beings to stick. Luckily, it doesn’t have to move much for the rest of the scene, but she tries to smooth it out before the end anyway.

Attention focused on the broken spotlight, she isn’t really paying much attention to the lines when Chloe and Tom, who’s playing opposite of her, begin to go hushedly off script.

A quiet, “But I didn’t even-” is heard from Chloe’s mic before Tom shouts, probably loud enough for the entire school to hear, and Beca’s head fires up as the words, “ _You fucking_ _slut!”_ echo throughout the entire auditorium. The entire cast and crew are stunned to silence, and all anyone can do is watch as Chloe looks around dejectedly at the small crowd before her. The teacher directing the play immediately begins to chastise Tom, and Chloe, clearly humiliated, rushes off the stage. She blows up the isles, almost running past Beca, and crashes through the auditorium doors. Tom stomps off backstage, and the director calls out for everyone to take a short breather, Jesse running on stage to talk to him.

The lights flicker on in the auditorium, and light chatter begins to fill the air as if nothing happened. Beca is resetting her spotlight for the next scene when Jesse starts calling out to her. She hops off of her platform and starts walking own the isle, meeting him halfway.

“What was that about?” She asks, Tom’s statement not making much sense with Beca’s current knowledge about Chloe. Jesse shakes his head and sighs, clear frustration forming on his face.

“I don’t even know! One second, Chloe was starting the break up, and the next Tom just started fighting with her!” He says, “At first we thought it was just improv, but then he-you know.”

Beca nods. She can’t believe Tom shouted that at Chloe at all, let alone in front of the entire cast and crew.

"Does anyone know where Chloe is?”

Jesse nods his head.

“Stacie found her in the bathroom. That’s actually why I came over here. Stacie needs to get ready for the next scene, and Aubrey isn’t here today, so I thought maybe you-”

“No way!” Beca interrupts, “I barely even know her, why would she want to see _me_ of all people? Especially after that!”

“I just need you to go in and see if she’s okay. I would go myself, but-” He gestures to himself, and Beca has never seen him look more serious. She thinks about it for a few seconds, deciding that it’s alright if she’s a good person for just this one day.

“Fine.” She says, “But you owe me.” Jesse’s pleading eyes turn relieved, and he tries to hug Beca, albeit failing as she pushes him away.

Before he can say thank you, Beca continues, turning a bit nervous at the thought of direct conversation with Chloe.

“What do I even say? ‘ _Sorry Tom called you a slut in front of the entire auditorium, by the way I’m Beca, I’ve been in love with you since like, freshman year?’”_ She whisper-yells to Jesse.

He rolls his eyes and pushes her up the aisle, towards the exit of the auditorium.

“Just ask her if she’s okay, and text me when you have an update, okay?”

Beca nods and gulps a little bit, nerves taking over. She exits the auditorium, and turns left, the bathroom just down the hallway. She pauses just as the reaches the door, not feeling confident in her ability to comfort the redhead unknowingly waiting for her.

“Fuck it,” she mutters under her breath, and she pushes open the door gently. She slips inside, quietly, and she notices Chloe immediately. She’s standing in front of one of the sinks, almost peering down into it, and her shoulders are moving with her light sniffles. Chloe’s head pops up at the sound of the door closing, and Beca pauses, her ever present awkward tendencies taking over.

“I-uh, Jesse sent me to check up on you,” She offers an explanation first, “my name’s B-”

“Beca.” Chloe finishes for her, she sniffs a little bit, her posture turning more defensive, “We have class together.” Beca’s eyebrows shoot up at that, surprised that Chloe even knew who she was.  

“Uh, yeah. We do,” Beca offers, “Quite a few, actually.” She doesn’t give Chloe a chance to speak up before she starts again, “Anyway, I just came to see if you were alright?” Her voice peaks at the end, and Beca leaves the statement in a question, not really knowing how to proceed.

Chloe looks down sheepishly, and Beca only prays that she doesn’t start crying again.

“I guess as well as can be expected,” She laughs a bit, but it sounds forced under the circumstances, “I’m assuming you saw what happened.”

Beca walks forward a little bit and leans back against the sink next Chloe.

“I was distracted with my crappy spotlight for most of it but I did hear the tail end, yeah.”

Chloe nods her head silently and mimics Beca’s action, leaning against the sink next to her. They’re silent for a few moments, Beca not really knowing what to say, when Chloe speaks up.

“I’m not, you know.” Beca looks over to find Chloe already staring at her, the intensity of her gaze letting Beca know that she’s dead serious. Beca nods her head, not needing to ask what Chloe meant.

_I’m not a slut._

“I didn’t think you were,” Beca assures her, “I just didn’t know you and Tom even had anything going on.”

Chloe laughs at that, a real laugh this time, and shakes her head in disbelief.

“We don’t,” She says, “We never have.”

Beca furrows her eyebrows, feeling even more lost than she did before.

“Then why did he call you, um-” She stutters a bit, choosing her words carefully, settling on an eloquent, “That.”

Chloe sighs and sniffles again, clearly holding back tears, and Beca wants _someone_ to just give the poor girl a hug.

“We’ve hung out a few times outside of rehearsals to practice our lines, and I guess what I thought was us just being friends, was him thinking we were being more than friends.”

Beca understands a little more now, but there’s still one thing bugging her.

“I thought you were dating that junior,” She tries to remember his name, but she comes up empty, “His name is like a country or something.”

“Chicago,” Chloe laughs again, and Beca decides she wants to cause more of that, “It’s kind of a long story.”

Beca checks the time with the non-existent watch on her wrist, and looks back up at Chloe.

“Seems like we got time.” She shrugs.

Chloe’s mouth quirks a little bit, the remnants of a smile appearing, and she gives Beca an unreadable look.

“Um, well, right before the play started we decided to take a break, and Tom knew that, but I guess when he hadn’t heard that we were together again, he took that as me being single. Over the weekend he saw us getting dinner, and he saw me and Chicago kiss. He confronted me that night too, but he wouldn’t listen to me when I tried explaining myself. He just kind of stormed off and he’d been avoiding me up until our scene, where he...Yeah.” Chloe takes a deep breath, and Beca watches as she wipes away a tear that managed to escape. “Sorry I’m crying, it’s just-this whole thing is so stupid, you know?”

Beca feels a small burst of anger for the other girl when she hears the full story.

“Tom’s a dick,” She states, boldly.

“He’s just...Tom.” Chloe says, sighing.

“You don’t have to defend him.” Beca looks at her, and Chloe’s eyes challenge her for a moment before she nods to herself.

“You’re right. Tom’s a dick.” Beca smiles and Chloe joins her, the air in the bathroom feeling a little less heavy.

“So you and Chicago are back together, then?” Beca doesn’t know what prompted her to push for more, but if she was being honest with herself, she really wanted to know.

“No, actually,” Chloe chuckles again at the absurdity of it all, “We were in the middle of breaking up that night. If Tom had just let me explain, we could’ve avoided all this.”

“I’m sorry,” Beca pipes up, “That he said that to you.”

“It’s okay,” Chloe smiles sadly, “I’m used to it.”

Beca nods. She knows. She might not know the name of Chloe’s boyfriend— _ex—_ or whatever, but she doesn’t live under a rock. Chloe’s name runs through the Barden High rumor mill at least once a week. Most of what’s said is bullshit, everyone knows, but still, Beca can’t imagine what it’s like to have people talking about you like that 24/7.

“For what it’s worth,” Beca starts, “I don’t really believe any of that stuff.”

“You sure?” Chloe says in response, and Beca is nervous until Chloe follows with, “You don’t think I gave Mr. Smith a BJ in the back of the band room?”

Beca tries to stifle a laugh until she sees Chloe crack a smile, at which both the girls burst. Laughter fills the bathroom, and Beca watches as a full smile finally stretches across Chloe’s face. They settle down after a few moments, and Chloe looks sheepishly over at Beca.

“Thank you,” She says, “I think I needed that.”

Beca shakes her head.

“Don’t worry about it.” Beca says, waving her off. She moves up from the sink and checks her phone.

 **Jesse (3:47 PM):** everything alright?

 **Jesse (4:01 PM):** smith cancelled the rest of chloe and tom’s rehearsals for today. amy is covering u on spotlight for the rest of the day. both of u can go home.

 **Beca (4:12 PM):** Just about finished. I’ll let Chloe know.

 **Jesse (4:12 PM):** thx beca. ur the best.

 **Beca (4:13 PM):** Two words. Death Note.

 **Beca (4:13 PM):** <333

She slips her phone in her back pocket and looks back up at Chloe, the girl starting to clean up in the mirror.

“Um,” She catches Chloe’s attention, nervous now that the conversation had a different direction, “Jesse said they aren’t doing the rest of you and Tom’s scenes today, so you’re free to leave whenever you want.”

“I figured that would happen,” She nods disappointedly, “I guess that’s back to spotlight number two for you, then?”

Beca’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

“You know what spotlight I am?”

“Well yeah, I don’t live under a rock.” Chloe scoffs, “It’s important to know who’s shining bright lights directly into my eyes every other scene.”

Beca can feel her face go red at the attention, especially at the mention of her mess-ups on spotlight.

“In my defense, the entire rig is broken,” She starts, “If it weren’t for me you’d be blinded during the whole show.”

“Then in that case, you’re my hero” Chloe laughs, “I still think you should’ve gotten sound over Luke. My sentences get cut early every time they switch leads.”

Beca rolls her eyes at the mention of Luke.

“Yeah, well, that’s what happens when you kiss teacher ass. I’d rather earn my spot.” Beca says the last part quickly, wanting to steer the conversation away from herself, “Anyway, Amy took over for me today, so I don’t have to go back either.”

Chloe grimaces at the idea of Amy on spotlight, but pushes it out of her mind quickly. Beca is a little cautious when Chloe’s demeanor seems to change a little bit. She’s seen a wide range of emotions from the taller girl in the last thirty minutes, but nervous wasn’t really one of them.

Chloe wrings her fingers together, the confidence that she held, even as she was close to falling apart in front of Beca, seeming to dissipate.

“Would you maybe want to go grab dinner?” Chloe asks. Before Beca can answer, she continues, almost speaking too fast for her to keep up with, “Only if you want to, of course. I know we’ve never really hung out before or anything, but you seem cool and this was nice, and I could use some better friends, obviously, but if you don’t-”

“Where do you want to go?” Beca interrupts, reveling in being the contained one in this conversation for the first time.

“Oh, um,” Chloe sounds surprised, “Do you like mexican? I know a good place right down the road, actually.”

“Yeah, that sounds cool. I just need to grab my stuff from the auditorium.”

“My stuff is backstage. Meet you outside?”

Beca mutters a “Totally,” (not her coolest response, sue her) and the girls exit the bathroom, going separate ways to gather their things.

On her way to the main entrance, Beca sends another text to Jesse, cursing her entire existence.

**Beca (4:29 PM): Getting dinner with Chloe.**

**Beca (4:30 PM): Do me a favor and write my name in my death note.**

**Jesse (4:30 PM): use protection!**

**Beca (4:31 PM): I’m deleting your number. Good night.**

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! if you have any requests/want to chat, you can find me at juliawickcr.tumblr.com


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